Jigsaw puzzles made of paper and other durable materials have entertained and educated puzzle players for decades. With the advent of personal computers, computer-generated pictorial jigsaw puzzles have also become popular among players of all ages.
In computer-generated pictorial jigsaw puzzles, a puzzle picture is electronically broken up into puzzle pieces and the puzzle pieces are scattered across an electronic viewing display. A player then manipulates the pieces on the display using a mouse or keyboard to connect interlocking puzzle pieces together until the puzzle picture is unscrambled.
While popular, existing computer-generated pictorial jigsaw puzzle pictures are static representations, that is non-moving images, similar to puzzle pictures made of durable material. As such, the computer-generated jigsaw puzzle image on each puzzle piece does not change while the game is being played. Further, existing computer-generated jigsaw puzzle games disadvantageously lack high quality sound effects, such as musical sequences, while the game is being played. Both non-static puzzle pieces and high quality sound effects would each provide feedback to the player, and significantly increase the level of excitement and interaction provided by the game.
There is, therefore, a need for a computer-generated jigsaw puzzle game which provides a player with moving video capability for increased entertainment, education, and interaction. Further, there is a need for a computer-generated jigsaw puzzle game which provides high quality sound effects while the game is being played.